MrKnittle
Chirping
Hello,
I have a 3.5 year old Buff Orpington hen (one of five) that has been panting and heaving for the past several weeks. I, at first, thought it was the heat, but she's doing it since it's cooled down, too. She molted just fine, as they're all finishing molting. They've all quit laying for the past three weeks, so she's not egg-bound. Her appetite looks fine, and she free-ranges all day and keeps up with her sisters. She is just always heaving when at rest and is opening and closing her bill most of the time with it. She does look a little thinner than the others, though. I noticed her being food-aggressive with one of the other girls tonight when I put them to bed, and she's not at all lethargic.
Their bedding (straw) is typically dry, especially since we've been in a drought for the past couple of months, and there are no signs of mold in the bedding. They get fresh food and water every day, so if it's aspergillus, she's the only one with it at this time, and I'm not sure how she would have contracted it.
Am I missing something? I know that aspergillus is incurable and can cause death within days of showing symptoms, but it can also be chronic. Gapeworm can be deadly, but not as quickly. I started treating all of them with Safe-Guard tonight, but I don't want to needlessly give them medication.
I've researched past threads on here, Google, YouTube, etc, but cannot find exactly what's going on with her.
Any advice is appreciated.
Video of her heaving, but not panting/mouth gaping at the time:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WFFe8ld-RFfQayifDfEy2ar_k8jBHejL/view?usp=sharing
I have a 3.5 year old Buff Orpington hen (one of five) that has been panting and heaving for the past several weeks. I, at first, thought it was the heat, but she's doing it since it's cooled down, too. She molted just fine, as they're all finishing molting. They've all quit laying for the past three weeks, so she's not egg-bound. Her appetite looks fine, and she free-ranges all day and keeps up with her sisters. She is just always heaving when at rest and is opening and closing her bill most of the time with it. She does look a little thinner than the others, though. I noticed her being food-aggressive with one of the other girls tonight when I put them to bed, and she's not at all lethargic.
Their bedding (straw) is typically dry, especially since we've been in a drought for the past couple of months, and there are no signs of mold in the bedding. They get fresh food and water every day, so if it's aspergillus, she's the only one with it at this time, and I'm not sure how she would have contracted it.
Am I missing something? I know that aspergillus is incurable and can cause death within days of showing symptoms, but it can also be chronic. Gapeworm can be deadly, but not as quickly. I started treating all of them with Safe-Guard tonight, but I don't want to needlessly give them medication.
I've researched past threads on here, Google, YouTube, etc, but cannot find exactly what's going on with her.
Any advice is appreciated.
Video of her heaving, but not panting/mouth gaping at the time:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WFFe8ld-RFfQayifDfEy2ar_k8jBHejL/view?usp=sharing
